


Asymptotic

by AppleTaters



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Hermann's siblings, M/M, Meet the Family, Newton slays at karaoke night, Vanessa is Karla's fiance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:40:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28123239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AppleTaters/pseuds/AppleTaters
Summary: “He's, uh,” Hermann looked around his room for inspiration, his eyes landing on a file on his desk- Dr. Geiszler’s latest report.“His name is Newton,” he said quickly, “he's my lab partner. Yes, he's on the K-science team and we just… hit it off.”“I thought you hated your lab partner,” Karla said, confused.“You used to complain about him every time I called.”“Yes, well,” Hermann floundered, “it’s a thin line between love and hate. You know how it is.”That statement was a little too close to the truth for Hermann’s comfort. The mental lockbox labeled Troublesome Feelings gave an ominous rattle.
Relationships: Newton Geiszler/Hermann Gottlieb
Comments: 10
Kudos: 25





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Because why work on the three fics I already have going when I could start a new one, right?  
> I have only seen the movie twice, and I don't know a ton about the lore, so I'm sorry if anything contradicts canon! I tried to google everything but I'm sure I missed something.  
> I really hope I'll update soon, but I tend to update slowly so who knows lol

Amidst the boxes full of papers and empty vials and chalk, ready to be taken out of the Shatterdome and onto new, unknown destinations, Newton Geiszler stood with his hand outstretched.

“It’s been an honor, Hermann,” he was saying, but Hermann just stared at his colleague’s hand, thinking _it can’t possibly be ending like this_.

Finally, Hermann stepped forward and slotted his hand into Newton’s. Up, down, up, down, and Newton was pulling away.

“See ya around, Gottlieb!” the other man called over his shoulder, and then the door shut with a _clang_ that echoed in Hermann’s mind with an edge of finality.

Hermann moved to England, after that. London was a constant buzz of noise and movement, the relief that _the world hadn’t actually ended_ permeating every heart. But among all the crowded streets of the city, Hermann felt something that he eventually pinpointed as _loneliness_. 

Saving the world had landed him a sizable severance package from the PPDC, enough that he didn't need to find employment anytime soon, but aimlessness had never been Hermann’s _modus operandus_ , and he had to admit he felt rather lost.

Three weeks after the final showdown in Hong Kong, Hermann was sitting at his kitchen table in his humble flat, staring blankly at the crossword puzzle in front of him. 

_Seven letters down; typhoon pilots_

A wave of sadness for the triplets crested over him, but it had a strange edge to it. He almost felt nostalgic for those days, as filled as they had been with fear and sleepless nights and death. _No, no_ , it wasn't really the work that he missed, he knew better. It was one man in particular, a man he hadn’t seen or heard from since-

His phone rang.

When the official reports had come out, and named him and Dr. Geiszler as key figures in the closing of the breach, there had been a flood of requests for interviews, job offers from private tech companies, and crazed admirers all vying for his attention at all hours of night and day. He had finally changed his number a week ago, which was what made this so unusual. He stared down at his phone. 

_Unknown caller._

With a sigh, he gave in to his curiosity.

“How did you get this number?” he snapped into the mouthpiece.

“Well hello to you too, little brother,” said the woman on the other end.

“Karla!” Hermann exclaimed, a rare smile flashing across his face. Of course his sister had managed to find his number. Her omniscience was frightening, sometimes.

“Why are you calling?”

“What, a girl can’t just call her world-famous brother to say hello?” she said, amusement and annoyance battling for dominance in her tone.

“I just wanted to make sure you really had survived the apocalypse, seeing as no one has heard from you in weeks.”

Hermann sighed and grabbed his cane from where it was leaning against the table.

“I’m sorry, Karla,” he said, standing up and walking over to put the kettle on. He would need a strong cup of tea to recover from this conversation, he could already tell.

“I was going to call soon, it’s all just been rather…”

“Traumatic?” his sister suggested.

“...Chaotic,” Hermann finished.

“Besides, father and I did not part on the best of terms last year,” Hermann went on, “so I wasn’t-”

“So you decided to hide in London like a _schattenparker_?” Karla interrupted him.

“So I decided to give him some time to come to terms with the fact he was wrong,” Hermann insisted.

“You know how he is, Karla-”

“We all know how he is, _brüter_ , but the rest of us…” she paused, “we were getting worried. I mean, we knew you wouldn’t be doing television interviews if you could help it, but you could have called your family.”

Hermann deflated.

“I’m sorry, Karla, I really am. But I promise you, I’m perfectly fine.”

“Is Newton taking good care of you?” Karla asked, and Hermann’s brain short-circuited.

“What?” he asked, his voice choked.

“Your boyfriend, Newton?” Karla said like it was obvious.

Hermann’s mouth dropped open in horror, a memory from a few months prior flashing before his eyes like he was in his final moments.

_Karla had called him out of the blue to announce her engagement to her longtime girlfriend, and her voice sounded so pitying when she said, “I hope you find someone someday, Hermann.”_

_Without thinking much of it, he informed her that he had found someone, thank you very much. His sister squealed in excitement, prompting Hermann to hold his phone a few inches from his ear with a grimace._

_“Who? When did this happen? How did you meet?” she had asked in succession, and Hermann knew this was a mistake that would come back to bite him in the arse. He felt guilty for lying, as well, but she sounded so happy for him. Besides, he just couldn't bear to admit that no, he was thirty-six years old and still unattached._

_“He's, uh,” Hermann looked around his room for inspiration, his eyes landing on a file on his desk- Dr. Geiszler’s latest report._

_“His name is Newton,” he said quickly, “he's my lab partner. Yes, he's on the K-science team and we just… hit it off.”_

_Hermann could have laughed at the irony. In truth, his first meeting with Dr. Geiszler had been nothing short of disastrous and, even now, his lab partner barely tolerated his presence. Hermann felt rather differently, if he was perfectly honest with himself, but he rarely was._

_“I thought you hated your lab partner,” Karla said, confused._

_“You used to complain about him every time I called.”_

_“Yes, well,” Hermann floundered, “it’s a thin line between love and hate. You know how it is.”_

_That statement was a little too close to the truth for Hermann’s comfort. The mental lockbox labeled Troublesome Feelings gave an ominous rattle._

_Karla laughed, and launched into some story about her fiance, and the subject of Hermann’s love life was forgotten for the moment. And then the first Category IV Kaiju came through the breach, and his little white lie slipped his mind completely._

“Right, my boyfriend,” Hermann said quickly, hoping his sister hadn’t noticed his moment of hesitation, “of course. Newton, that is.”

“Yeah, where is he?” Karla asked.

“I want to talk to him and make sure he’s taking good care of my baby brother.”

“Ah,” Hermann said simply, “well, you can't.”

“Why not?” Karla pouted.

“He's not here. I mean, he's not in London. He’s not even in the country!” Hermann said, his voice going a little shrill.

“Did you break up?” Karla asked, her voice going all soft.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Hermann. After the horrible way Stefan left you, you really deserved some-”

“No!” Hermann exclaimed, the sting of hearing his ex’s name spurring him to keep talking, to make his sister stop _pitying_ him.

“No, we didn’t break up,” he said, “Newton is in Berlin. He’s spending some time with his family there.”

“Oh, good,” Karla said, sounding relieved. Hermann felt a stab of shame, but he pushed it down.

“When is he coming back? I don’t like that he left you all alone so soon,” she continued, her tone disapproving.

“He’ll be back next week,” Hermann said, feeling the inexplicable urge to defend his completely hypothetical boyfriend from his sister’s judgment.

“Perfect! We’ll come on Saturday, then, so we can meet him,” Karla said.

“Who’s coming where?” Hermann asked with trepidation.

“Dietrich and Bastien!” she said excitedly.

“And me, of course,” she continued, “and Vanessa, too. We’re coming to see you!”

“You’re coming to see me,” Hermann repeated, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“That’s… that’s great, Karla,” he said, watching the flame dance underneath the teakettle, “I can’t wait for you to meet him.”

_Out of the frying pan, into the fire._


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keeping up with the trend of updating while drunk, here's the second chapter! Enjoy!

After getting off the phone with his sister, Hermann called Newton, and made a noise of frustration when an automated voice told him the number had been disconnected. Of course it couldn’t be that easy when Newton was involved.

Cursing, he walked over to his laptop and typed in Dr. Geiszler’s personal email, which he hadn’t had occasion to use since their disastrous first meeting had put a stop to their written correspondence.

_ Please call me at the number below at once. It is a matter of grave importance. _

Hermann was loading the dishwasher and mentally berating himself for getting himself into this mess when his phone rang for the second time that morning. 

He stared at it for a moment, thinking that he should just call his sister and tell her the truth, but the shame was too much. He picked up the phone.

“Dude!” Newton’s voice came through the speaker, as over-enthused as ever.

“That email scared the shit out of me, what's up?”

“Ah, well,” Hermann said, “not to worry, Dr. Geiszler, the world does not need saving again so soon.”

“Then why-” Newton began.

“But I do,” Hermann admitted.

“You… need saving?” asked Newton hesitantly.

“Yes,” Hermann said, determined not to be embarrassed, “I have gotten myself into a pickle of sorts and I need you to come to London and, erm…”

He took a deep breath, and soldiered on, “...and pretend to be my boyfriend.”

There was a beat of silence on Newton's end, and then the other man emitted a high-pitched shriek that Hermann realized was laughter. 

“You need me to  _ what?” _ he gasped in between hysterical giggles. 

“I know it’s all very untoward,” Hermann said, exasperated, “but I am being perfectly serious and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t  _ laugh at me _ .”

“Why the  _ fuck _ \- I mean-” Newton seemed to be at a loss for words, which was a first, “just  _ why _ ?” 

“My sister called me just now to inform me that she, her fiance, and my brothers will be coming to London to visit me next week,” Hermann explained.

“I’m not following,” Newton said.

“Well, you see, it’s possible that last year, in an attempt to avoid embarrassment over my lack of romantic prospects, I  _ may _ have told my sister that we were, ah, involved,” Hermann conceded.

“And now you’re too scared to admit you lied,” Newton accused.

“Well, I-” Hermann stammered.

“Man, you’re gonna owe me  _ big time _ for this one,” the other man interrupted him.

“I- what?” Hermann said, disbelieving.

“When do they get there, and how long are they staying?” Newton asked.

“They arrive on the twenty-second and leave the twenty-ninth,” he answered.

Newton whistled.

“An entire week of pretending to be in love with Hermann Gottlieb,” he mused.

“Thank god I was blessed with natural acting talent, seeing as I was born to be a star.”

Hermann grimaced, but thought better of arguing that particular point.

“Man, don’t worry,” Newton went on, sensing his distress, “this is going to be a _hilarious_ story one day.”

“Yes, perhaps one day very, very far in the future,” Hermann said wryly.

“When I’m on my deathbed, for instance.”

Newton laughed his regular laugh, not the condescending one from before, and Hermann resolutely didn’t think about why his lips curled into a soft smile at the familiar sound.

They agreed Newton would arrive a day early to “move in” and get settled before Hermann’s siblings arrived and, even though he'd had a week to adjust to the idea, Hermann still found the whole situation rather surreal when Newton appeared on his doorstep the following Friday afternoon. 

“Long time no see, Gottlieb!” the biologist exclaimed with a smile when Hermann opened the door. 

Newton wasted no time in pushing past Hermann into the flat and dumping his luggage unceremoniously in the entryway.

“I have to piss like nobody's business,” he said in a rush, “where’s the  _ water closet  _ in this place?”

“The  _ toilet _ is down the hall, first door on the left,” Hermann answered.

Newton scurried off to the loo, slamming the door after him.

Hermann leaned back against his front door and took a steadying breath, before feeling another unaccountable smile spread across his face. Newton Geiszler was the absolute antithesis of everything Hermann stood for but, Lord help him, the other man’s whirlwind presence soothed a persistent ache in his chest that he’d been steadfastly ignoring. Before he could look too closely at his own feelings, lest he discover something unpleasant, Hermann made himself busy in the kitchen procuring two cups of tea.

“These are some sweet digs,” Newton’s voice came from behind him, “definitely an upgrade from the shatterdome”

“Agreed. I never did appreciate having to live in a veritable bunker,” Hermann replied.

“Two sugars, correct?” he continued, placing a steaming mug on the counter in front of his former lab partner.

“Aw, Herm, you made me tea?” Newton cooed. He took a sip and made an appreciative noise. 

“So how exactly are we gonna pull this off?” the biologist asked, setting his mug down on the counter and wrapping his hands around it.

“Well, my siblings already know who you are,” Hermann mused, “so there won't be any false identities involved. We’ll just be us, except… except dating.”

“When did we get together?”

“I only told my sister about our, uh,  _ involvement _ in January,” Hermann answered.

“Cool, I’ve always wanted to live out the plot of a Christmas rom-com,” said Newton, and Hermann barely suppressed an eye-roll.

“So, what was the final push you needed to realize that under all the anger and grandpa sweaters, you were actually batshit crazy in love with me?”

Hermann rubbed his hand over the back of his neck, as if he could push down the strange flush he felt there. 

“We were working late one night,” he bagan.

‘Later than usual, I mean. Tension was high. We fought, and then… you

made me tea.”

He shifted his weight, oddly nervous.

“I looked up from my desk and there you were, holding out a mug like a peace offering, with this shy smile that just…”

He took a breath.

“Well, I realized that there was no one I’d rather have by my side for the end of the world, and…”

“And?” Newton asked hesitantly.

“And I kissed you,” Hermann finished.

“That's it?”

“I think a simple story gives us less of a chance of getting caught in a lie,” Hermann said defensively.

“But that actually happened!” Newton cried, almost knocking over his tea with his expressive hand motions.

“I mean, if I remember correctly, you complained there was too much sugar in it and then went back to ignoring me, but the rest of it happened! Except the kissing part, obviously.”

“Obviously,” Hermann echoed.

The two men stared at each other for a second, and then Hermann looked away.

“Okay,” Newton broke the silence, “so that's how we got together. Now we just have to make it look like I’ve been living here.”

“What do you mean?” Hermann asked with trepidation.

“I brought some stuff to decorate with,” the shorter man said matter-of-factly.

“What do you mean, stuff?” Hermann eyed the luggage in the entry-way nervously.

Newton walked over to his bags and began pulling things out.

“It has to look convincingly like I live here, right?”

“I suppose…” Hermann muttered.

“Then it's settled,” Newton said with a grin.

“I think this would look great on the far wall,” he went on, unfurling a rather large kaiju poster.

“That’s absolutely ridiculous,” Hermann spat, following the other man into the living room.

“Listen,” Newton began, climbing onto on the sofa to pin the offensive poster to the wall opposite the television, “I’m doing you a huge favor here, don't forget-”

“Yes, alright,” Hermann interjected, “I suppose it would look more convincing if you had some things scattered about.”

“Jeez, where has this collaborative attitude been hiding?” Newton asked, getting dirty footprints all over the cream-colored sofa.

“I don't know, probably buried deep below fifteen layers of extremely justified hatred,” Hermann retorted bitterly.

Newton barked out a laugh, which quickly turned into a yawn.

“Man, I’m beat,” the biologist said, rubbing at his eyes as he clambered off the sofa.

“Where am I sleeping?”

“Oh, well,” Hermann hesitated.

“I figured we’d just share.”

Newton was quiet for a moment.

“Yeah, alright,” he said finally.

Hermann helped Newton carry the remainder of his luggage into what was to be  _ their  _ bedroom for the next week, and the two men took turns brushing their teeth and changing into sleeping clothes.

As they climbed into the same bed, Dr. Geiszler was uncharacteristically silent. Hermann settled down on his side, already regretting this entire exercise. Listening to his former lab partner’s breathing even out, he was conscious of every inch separating their bodies in the bed, which had served him well but suddenly felt much too narrow.  _ Or maybe not narrow enough _ . Shaking himself mentally, Hermann turned onto his side so his back was to Newton, and resolutely tried to forget the other man’s very existence. 

It was only for a week, he reminded himself. Just one week, and he and Newton would return to being antagonistic acquaintances. The thought wasn't as comforting as he'd hoped, but he clung to it nonetheless.  _ One day at a time,  _ he told himself, and closed his eyes. 

  
  



End file.
